Coming To Find You
by xoxomickeyxoxo
Summary: Marissa is alive and well, but regretting a decision that she made her junior year of high school. Now she's at Princeton Plainsborough Teaching Hospital, attempting to rekindle her relationship with Alex Kelly. Malex. AU. R&R Please!
1. Chapter 1

Hey everyone! Um... I don't know where I got this idea. But it's fun to write... and maybe it'll turn out really well.

Just a side note, I know in House Thirteen's real name is Remy Hadley, but I had to keep it Alex Kelly for the purpose of the story. So... yeah :)

If you're a major House fan, you should check out my other stories - I love feedback!

**Disclaimer: Josh Schwartz and David Shore own the OC and House [respectively]**

**Copyright: Writing is mine, so don't take please :)**

So as always, read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

Marissa Cooper stepped through the lobby doors of the Princeton Plainsborough Teaching Hospital, fully clad in Chanel – suit jacket, big necklace, and quilted clutch. She had changed over the number of years; her twenty-fifth birthday was fast approaching. Immediately after returning from her Greece boat adventure with her father, she had immediately taken her position at Berkeley and now was a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, putting the passion for fashion that Seth had used for her character Cosmo Girl to good use. She noticed the Dean of Medicine stamp on the window and she knocked. Lisa Cuddy looked up from the mountains of work, noticing the beautiful young woman standing in front of her doors, and she beckoned her in.

"You're… the Dean of Medicine, right?" Marissa asked, extending her hand. "My name is Marissa Cooper."  
"I'm Dr. Cuddy… is there anything that I can help you with?" Cuddy asked politely, standing up and shaking Marissa's hand.

"You are the Dean of Medicine though, correct? So… like, you're the boss of everyone here?" Cuddy nodded slowly, wondering what this woman was getting at.

"Is there a doctor here named Alex Kelly?" Cuddy gave her a speculative stare, before realizing whom she was talking about.

"Thirteen."

"Excuse me?"

"She goes by Thirteen - her crazy boss's idea of hiring replacements for his team," Cuddy reminisced, eliciting strange stares from Marissa. Cuddy shook her head, returning to business. "Were you…referred here?" Marissa shook her head.

"No… nothing like that. Could you please tell me where her department is?"

"Third floor to the right… They should be in the office labeled Gregory House."  
" Thank you, so much," she said, her black pumps with white bows on the toe, making no sound as she exited the Dean of Medicine's office. Lisa Cuddy watched the girl walk away, confused by the surprise encounter.

* * *

Marissa stood in the elevator, attracting stares from the male personnel that also stood in the elevator. She blushed, tucking a strand of long golden hair behind her ear, but none of them sparked her interest, even the tall, floppy haired attractive blonde. She twiddled her thumbs anxiously, wondering if Alex would even recognize her – her face had narrowed out from her teenage years, her hair had grown out from the last time Alex had seen her, also accompanied with thick, straight bangs. She headed down the hallway, looking at the windows for the right doorway.

* * *

"Differential diagnosis for abdominal and joint pains, fever, diarrhea – go!"  
"Could be Bechet's," Kutner said, absentmindedly. House turned to face him, a look of disgust written on his face.

"Right. Because one symptom fits and it's not even a common one."  
" Schistosomiasis or Celiacs both fit," Foreman suggested.

"Husband mentioned weight loss and extreme tiredness – could be colorectal cancer," Thirteen added, as she looked through the file.

"Go run an antigliadin antibody test, colonoscopy, and biopsy to confirm," House ordered lazily, anxious to get rid of them. There was a knock at the door and House looked up, beckoning the girl in.

"You're over eighteen, right?" House confirmed, making sure that he would not face Cuddy's wrath if he became involved with jailbait – again.

"My name's Marissa Cooper," she began, holding out her hand. Thirteen froze in her chair - the name and the voice never having escaped from her mind. Marissa looked around the room anxiously. She noticed a woman sitting with her back to Marissa, with long brown hair and Marissa shook her head – not exactly the blonde hair with the purple streak she had kept imagining for all these years. "I'm looking for -."

"Me. She's looking for me," Thirteen said, after taking a deep breath. She stood, facing Marissa with quivering lips and shaking knees. Marissa breathed a sigh of relief and joy – it had been too long since she had seen the woman that she had cared about so much. House raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

"Don't you have tests to be running?" House asked, not so subtly tilting his head towards the door, eager to find out more about this blonde bombshell from Thirteen's past.

"Leave her alone, House," Thirteen said menacingly, as she grabbed the files and left the room.

"Wait, Alex," Marissa pleaded, giving an apologetic smile to the team, whose mouths hung slack. House smirked, wondering was going on.

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Thirteen asked as she headed to the patient's room, not turning to face Marissa, as Marissa ran to catch up to her.

"I… I've been looking for you… I wanted to see you," Marissa said, reaching out to grab Thirteen's hand, which she pulled away.

"Look… I've tried very hard to keep my past private from the people in this hospital – tried hard to get away from my past," Thirteen said in a low whisper, finally turning to face Marissa. "So please… just go back to your life and don't come into mine," Thirteen said, getting onto the elevator and forcing herself to look away as the doors closed in Marissa's face. Marissa sighed dejectedly as she headed back down the hallway. She noticed House sitting in his office and knocked, heading inside.

"Could… I wait here? For Al- for Thirteen?" Marissa asked quietly and House nodded, gesturing the chair with his head.

"So who are you?" House asked bluntly, the moment her back hit the chair.

"My name's Marissa -."  
"Yeah, yeah. We know your name. Who **are **you?" Marissa hesitated, remembering what Thirteen had said about keeping her personal life a secret. She was sure her boss was no exception to that rule.

"We're old friends," Marissa said truthfully, leaving out a key portion of their "friendship."

"Right," House said with a smirk. "Because old 'friends' stare at each other with an electricity that even a child could pick up. Because an old 'friend' would defend her 'friend' from being hit on by their boss with jealousy seeping through their voice. And because if you were just friends, she wouldn't have run out of here faster than light." House leaned over the desk to stare at Marissa, and she could see his intense eyes from across the room. Marissa took a deep, resigned breath – House definitely was not dim-witted.

"Where should I start?"


	2. Chapter 2

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while and it's a really short chapter, but I just wanted to give you guys a little bit of something. The next chapter will be better I promise!

And I know Thirteen doesn't have tattoos or wear long sleeves all the time - but Alex had tattoos and to keep her secret, she would wear long sleeves all the time - or keep her lab coat on, which Thirteen actually usually does.

**Disclaimer: I do not own House or the O.C.**

Oh, also, I wanted to dedicate this story to Mischa Barton - I know she's been having a tough time lately, and I wanted to send my love and support.

So as always, read, review, and enjoy!

* * *

"Let me help you with that." Four pairs of curious eyes turned to House, who was generously offering to help Thirteen take off her lab coat. Thirteen snorted a laugh.

"What the hell, House?"

"The… air conditioner, it's broken – and it's extremely hot in here. I'm sure you don't want to be stuck in that itchy lab coat," he said, sliding Thirteen out of the coat. He smirked, his mission accomplished, as three pairs of curious eyes fell on the vividly colored butterfly tattooed on her arm. Thirteen's eyes grew wide with horror as she realized that she wasn't wearing a long sleeved shirt. She slid back on her lab coat and sat down, immersing herself in the patient file.

"Patient tested positive for schistosomiasis – we should start anthelmintic drugs," Thirteen said, attempting to ignore House.

"So, why the butterfly?" House questioned, leaning back against the counter, as he popped a Vicodin. "Was it because you were drunk? Or because Mom and Dad with an X through it was too expensive." House said, raising his eyebrows. Tears flooded her eyes as she slammed the file down on the table and stood up, heading to leave.

"Personally, I think it's a little bit of both."

"Go to hell, House," she choked out, crossing her arms across her chest as she headed down the hallway. Foreman got up after her, glaring at House.

"You're an ass," he said, chasing after her.

Foreman found Thirteen not too far away, slumped against a wall, hand in her hair.

"Ignore him. Please," he said, sitting next to her and giving her a kiss on the cheek. Thirteen nodded, closing her eyes.

"I'm fine," she said and Foreman smiled at her.

"So… then who is she? Marissa. You know you can tell me."  
"She's an old friend of mine," Thirteen said simply, looking into Foreman's dark eyes. He read the lie written in her crystal eyes and nodded.

"Just… let me know when you want to tell me," he said, standing up and walking away, leaving Thirteen alone on the floor, wondering how her life suddenly got so complicated.

"I've been waiting for you." Thirteen looked up and sighed when she saw Marissa.

"It's like you're stalking me." Marissa nodded, but couldn't conceal a smile.

"You know you said that same thing to Seth… the night of the Bait Shop, and Lindsay, with the old horror movie." Thirteen couldn't help but smile at the memory, the almost instant chemistry between her and Marissa. Marissa hesitated, but slid down against the wall once Thirteen made no move to get rid of her or walk away.

"So, I'm sorry I told your boss all of that stuff about you," Marissa said sincerely. "I just... I could tell he was going to upset you... and I knew it was the only way you would talk to me," Marissa said, almost embarrassed. Thirteen had to laugh at that - it sounded so like Marissa.

"I really miss you, Alex." Thirteen felt a shiver go up and down her spine at Marissa's soft words. Nobody had called her Alex for a while - all of her coworkers and patients referred to her as Thirteen; it had always been easier that way.

"You were the one that left you know... with Ryan... and the night of the bonfire," Thirteen said softly, remembering the night just as if it was yesterday. She swore she could feel the salt water lightly splashing on her face and experience her jealousy all over again.

"I know... and, even all these years later... I still think it was a mistake," Marissa said softly as she reached out to tuck Thirteen's hair behind her ear. Her skin felt pulses of energy under her touch and she shivered, remembering how good it felt to have Marissa's hands in her hair, her lips against her skin.

"Can we please go out to dinner? Just... to catch up at least? It's been years," Marissa asked and Thirteen bit her lip. She had plans with Foreman tonight, but just to hang out and eat take out.

"I'd really like that," Thirteen said with a shy smile.


End file.
